Ukraine doubles up on U.S. in friendly

Larnaca, Cyprus (SportsNetwork.com) - The United States men's national team
sustained a 2-0 defeat to Ukraine on Wednesday in a friendly that was played
in Cyprus.

There was considerable doubt about whether the match would be played due to
the civil unrest in Ukraine, where the contest was originally suppose to take
place.

But after discussions it was decided to move the game to Cyprus, where goals
from Andriy Yarmolenko and Marko Devic helped Ukraine claim the win.

The American defense struggled throughout the match and watched as Denis
Garmash made a well-timed run through the middle of the back line in the 12th
minute.

He brought the ball down inside the area and had his shot saved by goalkeeper
Tim Howard. However, he collected the rebound and squared the ball to
Yarmolenko, who easily finished from 10 yards.

Garmash had the ball in the net again for Ukraine five minutes later, but the
goal was ruled out for offside.

The Americans came close to equalizing in the 51st minute when a header from
Jozy Altidore sailed just over the crossbar following a right-wing cross from
Geoff Cameron.

However, U.S. the back line fell apart again in the 67th minute as a flicked
header from Roman Bezus released Devic in behind the defense.

His initial effort was saved by Howard, but he rolled home the rebound to
double the advantage.

U.S. substitute Aron Johannsson had a volley cleared off the goal line by a
Ukrainian defender in the closing minutes to prevent the Americans from
finding the net, and they will next face Mexico in a friendly on April 2.